Consultant Cardiologist, Dr Rae Duncan (@Sunny_Rae1), was interviewed today on BBC’s Sunday Show.

In this thread 🧵, I’ve pulled out some of the key highlights.

Kudos to Martin Geissler (@mmgeissler) who had clearly done his homework in advance & asked excellent questions.

1/
Dr Rae Duncan kicks off by explaining that Covid is not ‘just a cold’.

She explains that, if we think of Covid simply in terms of the acute stage of infection, we are only looking at the tip of the iceberg…

…but the bulk of the iceberg lies beneath the surface.

2/
Martin: “In Canada, they’re finding if you’ve had 3 or more Covid infections, you’ve got a 38% chance of getting Long Covid. Can that be right?”

Dr Rae Duncan explains how many studies show that, the more times you get infected, the higher your risk of developing Long Covid.

3/
Martin: “Can you just as easily get organ damage, brain issues, heart issues from Long Covid if you’re young & healthy?”

Dr Rae Duncan explains how EVERYONE is at risk. Many of her Long Covid patients were previously young, fit & healthy; some were even amateur athletes.

4/
Dr Rae Duncan explains how this Winter has been devastating for some of her patients as so many have been reinfected with Covid…

…and all the hard work put in to try to get them better, to get them back to work or back to school, has all been completely undone again.

5/
Martin: “Are we taking this seriously enough as a country?”

Dr Rae Duncan explains how our government need to start listening to the WHO advice.

If we don’t get a handle on the high Covid transmission rates, hundreds of millions are going to require longer term care.

6/
Dr Rae Duncan explains how studies have repeatedly shown that cleaning the air (by improving ventilation & air filtration) can significantly reduce Covid outbreaks in schools & improve school attendance rates…

…and it protects against other airborne pathogens too.

7/
Martin: “Are we too laissez-faire about Covid at the moment?”

Dr Rae Duncan explains how she’s very concerned about the longer term implications of Long Covid.

Economic modelling already shows that Long Covid might be costing the UK economy billions of pounds EVERY YEAR.

8/
Dr Rae Duncan wraps up by explaining that we have to learn to live with Covid SAFELY…

…and that should start with basic measures like clean air in schools & hospitals.

Finally, Martin gives a poignant anecdote about one of his camera crew who is suffering from Long Covid.

9/
A massive thank you to Dr Rae Duncan (@Sunny_Rae1), Martin Geissler (@mmgeissler) and @BBCScotland for this brilliant interview, raising awareness about the devastating impact of Long Covid.

You can watch the full show at the link below:

🔗

/ENDbbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…
UPDATE: As requested, here’s a YouTube link to the full interview, kindly posted by @ABrokenBattery.

BBC Scotland Sunday Show (4 Jan 2024)
Martin Geissler (@mmgeissler) interviews Consultant Cardiologist Dr Rae Duncan (@Sunny_Rae1) about Long Covid.

🔗
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More from @_CatintheHat

May 11
HANTAVIRUS OUTBREAK:

I’ve just listened to the health update from the US Nebraska Health Officials 🇺🇸

A few points of interest:

1/ in addition to the US passenger who tested positive & the one showing symptoms, it seems there is ANOTHER passenger who may have tested positive.
2/ Passengers currently in the Nebraska quarantine unit will spend a few days there being assessed.

If they remain symptom free & have support available at home to isolate safely, they’ll have the choice to complete the 42-day isolation either at home or in the quarantine unit.
3/ When asked about the US passengers who left the ship in St Helena on 24 Apr (at the same time at the Dutch woman who was symptomatic & sadly died on 26 Apr), they confirmed that these passengers have all been traced & are being monitored - but seems they’re NOT self-isolating.
Read 10 tweets
May 10
HANTAVIRUS OUTBREAK

Following my thread yesterday which criticised aspects of the WHO’s strategy, I’m pleased to see they’ve done a 180° turn in the updated guidance published today:

who.int/docs/default-s…

EVERYONE from the ship will now be treated as HIGH-RISK contacts…

🧵 x.com/_catinthehat/s…Image
…and ALL high-risk contacts will now be required to ISOLATE in a designated facility or at home (depending on each country’s capabilities) for 42 days from last known exposure…

…and for the MV Hondius passengers & crew, the last day of exposure is the date of disembarkation. Image
So for the passengers & crew leaving the ship today, the clock for their 42 days in isolation starts ticking TODAY…

…and their isolation & monitoring will end on 21 June. Image
Read 7 tweets
May 9
HANTAVIRUS OUTBREAK 🧵

Following the WHO press briefing, I wanted to compile a thread with the key points.

1/ ISOLATION OF PASSENGERS

Concerningly, it seems the WHO are NOT recommending to isolate cruise ship passengers (even high-risk contacts) UNLESS they develop symptoms.
Just to quickly recap, it has been confirmed that the passengers & crew (including the 30 who disembarked on 24 April in St Helena) come from a total of 28 different countries.

The full breakdown of countries for both passengers 🟥 & crew 🟦 is detailed below ⬇️ Image
When the 146 people remaining on the ship are repatriated to their home countries, each country will adopt their own local protocols.

However, the WHO are only recommending:

▪️SYMPTOMATIC cases ➡️ isolation
▪️ASYMPTOMATIC cases ➡️ monitoring
Read 41 tweets
May 5
HANTAVIRUS OUTBREAK ON CRUISE

“Human-to-human transmission suspected on board hantavirus cruise ship, WHO says”

▪️7 cases identified so far.

▪️3 people (2 Dutch, 1 German) have tragically died.

▪️1 Briton is in intensive care in South Africa.

edition.cnn.com/2026/05/05/afr… x.com/cnn/status/205…Image
The exact Hantavirus has not yet been identified, but given the ship departed from Argentina, it’s a distinct possibility it’s the Andes Virus.

This strain is known to be transmissible between humans & previously caused superspreader events in Argentina.

nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.105…Image
Below are further details about the Andes Virus superspreader events in Argentina (in 2018):

▪️ Transmission event: Birthday Party
5 guests infected
Symptom onset 17-24 days later

▪️ Transmission event: Funeral/Wake
10 guests infected
Symptom onset 14-40 days later Image
Read 50 tweets
Mar 22
MENINGITIS B TRANSMISSION

There’s been a lot of discussion online and in the media about how exactly Meningitis B spreads.

A lot of it is conflicting & confusing.

So let’s put opinions & hearsay aside and take a proper look at what the latest science actually tells us…

🧵 Image
The UK National Institute for Health & Care Excellence (NICE) states that bacterial meningitis and meningococcal disease is transmitted by the following 3 modes:

▪️ aerosol
▪️droplets
▪️direct contact

cks.nice.org.uk/topics/meningi…Image
The first of these modes of transmission, AEROSOL, has been the subject of heated debate.

Let’s look at why…

Notice the second line:

“Transmission usually requires either frequent or prolonged close contact.”

At first, this may seem contradictory with aerosol transmission… Image
Read 22 tweets
Mar 19
COVID INQUIRY: MODULE 3 REPORT

“Fundamental flaws in the UK’s approach to IPC [infection prevention & control] guidance, for example in relation to the use of PPE, put patients and healthcare workers at risk.”

— Baroness Hallett, Chair of the Covid Inquiry

Read more here… ⬇️
These are the words we were all hoping to hear:

“Initial guidance on preventing the spread of infection was flawed. It assumed the virus was spread by contact transmission, failing properly to consider the extent to which it was also spread by AIRBORNE transmission.” Image
But it wasn’t just the “initial guidance” that was flawed!

To this very day, the IPC guidance STILL does not reflect the latest science on AIRBORNE transmission.
Read 4 tweets

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